Chapter 189: Shakespeare’s Love Letters ⑥
Nie Qiu didn’t eat either, she just held it in her hand and asked Nie Aifang, “By the way, Mom, do you need something?”
“I looked at a few apartments this morning, and I’ve narrowed it down to two. Do you have time to come with me to see them at noon? The weather is getting cold now. If we find one we like at noon, we’ll rent it. I’ll go buy bed sheets and bedding in the afternoon, and then we can sleep in it tonight.” Nie Aifang said with a smile, “We’ll take care of other things slowly. We’ll eat out for the next few days. When you’re on vacation, I’ll take you to buy more winter clothes and pants.”
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Nie Qiu smiled and nodded, said goodbye to Huang Yan and the others, and left the school with Nie Aifang to look at apartments.
Both apartments were one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. What was different from their previous apartment was that the apartments in this residential area were renovated. One apartment had tile flooring, and the other had marble flooring, which shone under the sunlight. Both required a three-month deposit and one month’s rent upfront, meaning they had to pay three months’ rent and a one-month deposit.
Nie Aifang was also smart this time and asked if they needed to sign a contract. With a contract for protection, the deposit could be returned if they decided to move out.
Nie Aifang pulled Nie Qiu along and asked with a smile, “What do you think? Are these two apartments okay? Which one do you like? We’ll rent that one.”
“Mom, whichever one has cheaper rent, let’s rent that one.” Nie Qiu didn’t want Nie Aifang to be too frugal, but she would definitely save money for Nie Aifang wherever she could. By saving a little bit like this, Nie Aifang wouldn’t have to work so hard for the rent.
“The apartment in Chaoyang Residential Area is 450 yuan per month. The one in Jinhua Alley is 500 yuan. However, Jinhua Alley is closer to your school. You have your final exams coming up, right? You wake up at five in the morning and can’t sleep until eleven or twelve at night. If it’s closer to school, you can wake up ten minutes later and get a little more sleep.” Fifty yuan for ten extra minutes of sleep every day? Nie Aifang thought it was worth it. In a mother’s heart, nothing was more important than her daughter’s health.
Nie Qiu looked at Nie Aifang and smiled, “Mom, you’ve already decided, so why did you ask me to come out and look?”
Nie Aifang smiled and pulled Nie Qiu to sit on a resting chair in the residential area. She thought for a moment and said, “Nie Qiu, I don’t know how to say this…”
Nie Qiu looked at Nie Aifang, “What is it?” Was she going to tell her about her and Nie Aiwen?
“I heard from your uncle today that he took out a loan from the bank to open a company.” Nie Aifang frowned, her tone filled with emotion and disbelief. “Qiu Qiu, think about it! It’s a company! Being a boss! Does all of this seem… unreal to us?”
So Nie Aiwen had indeed registered his own company. In fact, ever since Bai Ya started flattering her, Nie Qiu had been wondering what Nie Aiwen did for a living, or rather, what he was doing. When Nie Aiwen said Li Mingxue was an employee of his company, she had a vague certainty about some things. That was that Nie Aiwen was definitely in a superior position at the company. If he was working for someone else, he would be someone with influence in the company, which is why he would say “my company’s employees.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she just asked, “Mom, isn’t it good that Uncle opened a company?”
Nie Aifang paused, nodded, and nodded again. “Yes, it’s very good.” However, she had a strange feeling in her heart. She knew he was her brother and her current lover, but like many ordinary farmers, she had been afraid of teachers since childhood and afraid of bosses as an adult.
Once he had the title of ‘boss,’ Nie Aiwen seemed different in her eyes. It was like a villager looking at a city dweller; there was a distance between them.
Nie Qiu didn’t know what Nie Aifang was thinking. Seeing that it was almost time for afternoon class, she stood up, “Mom, it’s almost time for afternoon class, I’m going back to school.”
Nie Aifang sat on the resting chair in the residential area, looked at Nie Qiu, and nodded. “You go ahead! I’ll go rent the apartment. I’ll buy bed sheets and bedding this afternoon. Can you find this residential area?”
Nie Qiu nodded and looked up at the rather tall building. The apartment in Jinhua Alley was actually bought by someone specifically to rent out. The entire apartment was originally three bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen, and one bathroom, but it had been converted by the owner into a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, one-bathroom layout. The door opened into a hallway, and there were two doors in the hallway. Both doors led to the same layout; it was one apartment divided into two.
This type of apartment was popular among young people who came to the city to work. For Nie Aifang, who used to set up a stall, she needed a place to park her tricycle, and the lower the floor, the better. But now that Nie Aifang was selling vegetables, she could park her tricycle in the warehouse where she stored her produce. She could wake up early every day to meet Zhang Qitian and take his minivan to the warehouse. Therefore, she didn’t have many requirements for renting an apartment.
In big cities, it was already difficult to find unfinished shell apartments, let alone factory-provided housing. Especially around schools? Some of the students at school were like Nie Qiu, outsiders, and some were locals. For those who lived far away, their parents were willing to rent an apartment near the school to accompany their children. Therefore, more apartments were built and renovated faster around schools than in other places a long time ago, and the rent was naturally not cheap.
The apartment they were going to rent now was not far from the school either, but it was one stop closer than their previous rented place, just in a different direction.
Nie Qiu returned to school and entered the classroom. Not long after, class began. Li Kai rubbed his sore hand, put his notebook into his desk, and looked up at Nie Qiu.
